Taraji P. Henson was snapped by photographer Bruce Weber for CR Fashion Book with her natural hairbraided down—meaning without the wigs and weaves she sports on her show, Empire. And, of course, in true Henson fashion, she was pretty honest and bad*ss about the whole situation. Along with the hashtags #IamNotMyHair and #MyHairdoesNotMakeMeBeautiful, she wrote in an Instagram caption, "As women we put sooooo much emphasis on our hair!!! As if hair defines beauty?!" Naming-checking other natural-hair beauties Lupita Nyong'o, Viola Davis, and Solange Knowles as being role models, it appears the actress found being stripped-down in the mane department empowering. But that doesn't mean it wasn't nerve-racking. She also admitted, "I wanted to say 'HELL NO' but I decided to trust art and the process." But in the end, her comfort with Weber won her over: "I saw the glimmer in his eyes when he asked. As an artist I knew he was inspired. So I decided not to block art and just let it be….free."

And as for that baked-goods reference in the background of one of the photos? That's the name of her Empire character. She said, "That 'Cookie' above me was NOT planned. It just happened to be there!"